Israeli Military Attack In West Bank Kills 4 People, Netanyahu Calls Counterterrorism Operation

West Bank Jenin/DOK UNOCHA

JAKARTA - The death toll from the attack by Israeli security forces backed by helicopters in the city of Jenin, West Bank, increased to 4 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his troop actions a large and significant military operation.

Military operations were carried out a day after US President Donald Trump declared he lifted sanctions against Israeli settlers who committed violence and attacked Palestinian villages.

"We are acting systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis wherever they reach out" in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Judea, and Samaria, "Netanyahu said as quoted by Reuters on Tuesday, January 21.

Judea and Samaria are terms used by Israel for the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said soldiers, police, and intelligence services had started counter-terrorism in Jenin.

This follows weeks of operations by Palestinian security forces to reaffirm control in adjacent refugee camps, which are the main centers of armed militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

When the operation began, Palestinian troops withdrew from the refugee camps and loud shots were heard on cell phone footage shared on social media.

Palestinian health services said four Palestinians were killed and 35 injured when Israeli attacks began.

The move to Jenin, where Israeli soldiers carried out many massive attacks and attacks over the past few years, comes just two days after the start of a ceasefire in Gaza and underscores the threat of greater violence in the West Bank.